Electrically controlled ink agitator



Sept. 19, 1961 D. ORTLEB 3,000,300

ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED INK AGITATOR Filed Nov. 21, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet1 I a a B A MES IN VENTOQ: DOUGLAS ORTLEE,

QTTOQNEY Sept. 19, 1961 D. ORTLEB ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED INK AGITATOR 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 21, 1960 MENTOR- DOUGLAS ORTLEB:

64 H TTO NE 7 United States Patent Filed Nov. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 70,9066 Claims. (Cl. 101-364) The present invention relates to the art ofprinting, and more particularly to ink agitators for use in connectionwith printing presses. More specifically, the present inventioncomprises an improvement over Patent No. 2,447,868, granted to theinventor hereof on August 24, 1948.

As explained in said patent, the inks generally employed in printingoperations performed by most presses are heavy bodied, and thereforeprone to coagulate unless they are stirred or agitated more or lessconstantly while the presses are in operation.

The theretofore existing problem of ink agitation was solved byapplicants disclosure set forth in the patent, and although the inkagitator mechanism therein set forth has been and is now beingextensively employed, the present invention is designed to provide animprovement thereover.

Accordingly, the primary object of this invention is to provide improvedmeans for continuously agitating ink in the fountain of a press, bothwhen the press is in operation and when the press is temporarily stoppedin the course of printing operations.

It is another object of this invention to provide improved means forcontinuously agitating ink in the fountain of a press in a uniformmanner whereby to prevent the trapping of air bubbles in the ink, thuassuring a thorough mixture of the bond and pigment ingredients at alltimes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means forcontinuously agitating ink in the fountain of a press so as to maintainthe color uniform from one to the opposite end of the ink roller of thepress.

To attain this objective, the present invention provides a novelmechanism that is electrically controlled, and is adapted to functionsmoothly, efliciently, and positively.

Broadly, said mechanism includes: an agitator blade; means forsupporting said blade with the lower edge thereof in close proximity tothe upper surface of the bottom wall of the ink fountain; means forcontinuously reciprocating said blade transversely of the fountain inone direction, then in the opposite direction; and means for limitingthe reciprocal strokes of the blade. Reciprocations of the blade areeffected by a rotatably mounted screw that activates a block throughwhich said screw extends, the blade supporting means being associatedwith said block.

One end of the screw is connected by means of a flexible coupling to theoutput shaft of a reversible motor unit that is controlled by a magneticreversing switch. The reversing switch in turn, is controlled by a microswitch having an actuating roller that in one position will effectclockwise rotation of the screw, and in its alternate position willeffect counterclockwise rotation thereof. The motor unit and the twoswitches aforesaid are mounted in operative disposition relatively toeach other on one of a pair of end brackets that together support all ofthe elements included in the mechanism of the present invention, saidend brackets being attached to the side frames of the printing press.

A slidably mounted rod has a cam block secured thereto, the cam portionof said block being in constant contact with the roller of the microswitch. A pair of what will be termed travel blocks, is also secured inpredetermined spaced relationship to'the rod aforesaid. The spacing ofsaid travel blocks is dependent on the width of the Patented Sept. 19,1961 ink fountain. In other words, these blocks would be so spaced thatwhen the agitator blade arrives at a point adjacent one end of thefountain, the slidably mounted rod will automatically be shifted, inconsequence whereof the cam block aforesaid will actuate the microswitch roller to reverse the rotational direction of the screw, as willappear.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated on twosheets of drawings that accompany this specification, and a morecomprehensive understanding of the advantages and features inherent inthe mechanism of the invention may be had from the detailed descriptionto follow with reference to said drawings, where- FIGURE 1 is a top planview of the electrically controlled ink agitator mechanism of thepresent invention shown in operative association with the ink roller endportion of a typical conventional printing press;

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary reproduction on an enlarged scale, of thelower left hand portion of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a similar View of the lower right hand portion of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary reproduction on an enlarged scale, of the lefthand portion of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a similar View of the right hand portion of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary left end elevational view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary reproduction on an enlarged scale, of theright hand portion of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 10 is a view, partly in section, taken on the line 10-10 ofFIGURE'9;

FIGURE 11 is a detail view of the tongue plate adapted to extend intothe helically generated groove of the motor driven screw;

FIGURE 12 is a top plan view of a slide block wherein the tongue plateof FIGURE 11 would be mounted;

FIGURE 13 is a detail view, partly in section, of the micro switchroller actuating cam;

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary view of the upper end portion of the agitatorblade;

FIGURE 15 is a detail view of one of the three reversing rod supportingblocks included in the mechanism of the invention; and

FIGURE 16 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG- URE 6, illustrating themicro switch roller actuating cam in an alternate position.

The present invention, as hereinbefore noted, comprises a mechanism thatis readily attachable to most, if not all conventional printing pressesof the type under consideration. A typical press of this type ispartially illustrated in the drawings and designated A. Inasmuch as suchpresses are well known, it is not deemed necessary to describe the pressA in detail. It includes spaced side frames a between which an inkingroller B is supported for rotation, the shaft C of said roller beingdriven by known means not shown. A conventional ink fountain generallyindicated at D is defined by an inclined bottom wall E that extendsbetween the side frames a. In more recent presses, a plate P that'isco-extensive with the bottom wall E is incorporated therein and has itslower edge in close proximity to the inking roller B. It will beunderstood however, that the present invention is not concerned with theprovision of such plate, but is equally efficient when embodied in inkfountain constructions as disclosed in Patent No. 2,447,868 aforesaid.

The electrically controlled ink agitator mechanism of the presentinvention is designated as a whole by the numeral 20. For convenience indescribing the mechanism 20, the various included components will bereferred to in accordance with their presentation as viewed in thedrawings, the portion of the press A that is illustrated beingconsidered the rear portion thereof, and the ink roller B beingconsidered disposed forwardly of the ink fountain D.

Thus, also as viewed in the drawings, the mechanism 20 includes a leftend bracket generally designated 22, and a right end bracket generallydesignated 24, these brackets being attachable to the side frames a bymeans of bolts 26, and serving to support between them, a pair ofvertically spaced transverse guide rails. The bracket 22 is L- shaped,and includes a horizontal leg segment 27 and a depending leg segment 28.The bracket 24 is generally L.-shaped, and also includes a horizontalleg segment designated 29 and a depending leg segment 30. The guiderails are rectangular in cross-section, and include an upper rail 32 anda lower rail 34, the ends of said rails being removably secured to thedepending bracket leg segments 28 and 30 by means of screws 36 as shown.

Secured to the leg segment 28 by means of a screw 38, and disposedbetween the guide rails 32 and 34, is a rectangular block 40 having atransverse circular opening 42 formed therein. Secured to the legsegment 30 by means of screws 44, and disposed between said guide railsis a pair of horizontally spaced rectangular blocks 46 and 48, eachhaving a transverse circular opening 50 therein, as shown for example inFigure 15. Numeral 52 designates what will be termed a reversing rod,the left end portion of said rod being slidably supported in the opening42 of the block 40, and the right end portion thereof being slidablysupported in the aligned openings 50 of the blocks 46 and 48.

In the single ink fountain embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe drawings, a pair of horizontally spaced travel blocks and a rolleractuating cam block are each secured to the reversing rod 52 by means ofset screws, so that these three blocks and said rod move in unisonfashion when, as will appear, said rod is caused to reciprocate. Thetravel blocks are affixed to the reversing rod 52 in predeterminedspaced relationship, the left hand block being designated 54, and theright hand block being designated 56. The cam block is identified by thenumeral 58, and includes a semicircular lower extremity 60. The setscrews whereby these three blocks are secured to the reversing rod 52are designated by the numeral 62.

In addition to the roller actuating function thereof, the

cam block 58 serves to limit the reciprocatory travel of the reversingrod in that it is secured to said rod between the blocks 46 and 48aforesaid. In other words, as should be evident from a comparison ofFIGURES 6 and 16, leftward movement of the rod 52 is arrested when thecam block 58 contacts the block 46, whereas rightward movement of saidrod is arrested when the cam block contacts the block 48.

The cam block 58 is shown per se in FIGURE 13, where it will be observedthat it is appropriately notched as at 64 so that its forward portion isslidably disposed between the rails 32 and 34, whereas the rearwardsemicircular extremity 60 thereof overlies and extends below the upperface of the lower guide rail 34 to engage the roller R of a micro switchMS. The micro switch is conventional, and is appropriately secured tothe leg segment 30 of the bracket 24 by suitable means as best seen inFIGURES 6 and 8.

As hereinbefore observed, the right end bracket 24 is generallyL-shaped, but has integrally formed therewith upwardly and' laterallyextending substantially rectangular platform segment that constitutes abase plate 66 for supporting a magnetic reversing switch MRS onitsforward face, and a reversible motor unit RMU on its rearward face. Theoutput shaft of the motor unit RMU is designated 08, andit'will be.understood that its rotational direction will alternative-lube.clockwise or counterclockwise responsive to the functioning of themagnetic reversing switch MRS that is controlled by the micro switch MS.

Numeral 68 designates generally, a helically generated screw thatextends between the side frames a, and serves to effect the rightwardand leftward movements of a nut block and the therewith associated inkagitating blade to be hereinafter described.

With attention directed particularly to FIGURES 3 and 5, it will beobserved that the threaded main body portion 78 of the screw 68terminates at one end short of the inner faces of the left frame a andthe thereon mounted bracket 22, and merges into a segment 72 of re duceddiameter. The segment 72 merges into a journal segment 74 of slightlylarger diameter as shown, and said journal segment is rotatablysupported in a horizontal circular opening 76 provided therefor in thedepending leg segment 28 of the bracket 22.

With attention directed particularly to FIGURES 4 and 6, it will beobserved that the threaded main body portion 70 of the screw 68terminates at the other end short of the inner faces of the right sideframe a and the thereon mounted bracket 24, and merges into a segment 78of reduced diameter. The segment 78 merges into a collar segment 80 ofconsiderably larger diameter, and a journal segment 82 having a diametercorresponding to its counterpart 74 extends rightwardly from the collarsegment 80. The journal segment 82 is rotatably sup ported in ahorizontal circular opening 84 provided therefor in the depending legsegment 30 of the bracket 24. Numeral 86 designates a flexible couplingwherewith the journal segment 82 is operatively connected to the outputshaft OS of the reversible motor unit RMU. Two thrust bearings 88 insuresmooth operation of the screw 68.

One such bearing is shown interposed between the collar segment 80 andthe inner face of the bracket leg segment 30. The other thrust bearingis interposed between the flexible coupling 86 and the outer face ofsaid leg segment 30.

With attention directed particularly to FIGURES 9 through 12, numeral 90indicates generally what will be termed a nut block. The body 92 of thisblock has formed therein a first transverse circular opening 94 throughwhich the screw 68 extends, and a second similar opening 96 throughwhich the reversing rod 52 extends. The body 92 of the block has alsoformed therein upper and lower channels 98 and 100 respectively thatengage the guide rails 32 and 34.

A diagonal slot 102 extends from the top to the bottom face of theblock, the angularity of said slot corresponding to thatof the helicallygenerated groove of the screw 68. Disposed in said slot and retainedtherein by a pair of cap screws 104, is a tongue plate 106, a forwardportion of said plate extending into the helical groove of the screw 68.With this arrangement, it is apparent that rotation of said screw willcause the nut block 90 to travel either rightwardly or leftwardly, asviewed in the drawings.

As best seen in FIGURE 12, the rear face 108 of the nut block 90 hasformed therein a vertical recess 110 that extends from the top to thebottom face thereof. A perpendicular standard 112 is disposed in saidrecess, and is maintained in the desired vertical position by means of aset screw 114 that extends through an elongated slot 116 in saidstandard, and engages in a threaded opening #118 provided therefor inthe body 92 of the nut block.

7 Numeral 120 designates generally, a supporting bracket for an agitatorblade 122. The bracket 120 includes a bifurcated section 124 that has apivotal connection 126 with the reduced upper end extremity 128 of thestandard 112. As clearly shown in FIGURE 5, the pivotal connection 126is comprised of a bolt 130 that passes through aligned circular openingsin the bifurcated section 124 of the blade unn ft ns a ke 1.2 d 1111aextremity 128 of the standard 112, and has a nut 132 applied to itsprojecting threaded extremity.

The main body portion of the bracket 120 is designated 134, and hasformed therein an agitator blade receptive recess 136. The width of thisrecess is slightly greater than the thickness of the blade 122. Numeral138 indicates a bolt having a smooth shank portion extending across therecess 136, said shank portion terminating in a threaded extremity inengagement with a tapped opening 140 provided therefor in the bracketmain body portion 134.

The preferred configuration of the agitator blade 122 is shown in FIGURE7. The blade has straight upper and lower edges 142 and 144respectively. The upper edge 142 merges in sinuous fashion into thelower edge 144 to form a pointed portion 146 constituting the forwardend of said blade. The rear end portion of the blade 122 is particularlyillustrated in FIGURE '14. There the blade is seen to have formedtherein a notch 148 that extends upwardly from the lower edge 142 of theblade, and terminates in a semicircular portion 150 having a diametercorresponding to that of the smooth shank portion aforesaid of the bolt138.

It will be understood that the magnetic reversing switch MRS, thereversible motor unit RMU, and the micro switch MS are commerciallyavailable items, and form per se no part of the present invention. Itshould also be understood that (although not shown in the drawings), therequisite electrical connections are provided. When the roller R of themicro switch is in the elevated position as shown in FIGURE 6, thereversible motor unit RMU will drive the screw 68 in a clockwisedirection as viewed from the right hand side of the press. Consequently,the nut block 90 and therefor the agitator blade 122 move rightwardly assuggested by the broken line arrow 152 appearing in FIGURE 5. When theroller R of the micro switch is in the depressed position as shown inFIGURE 16, the unit RMU will drive the screw 68 in a counterclockwisedirection, whereby to propel the nut block 90 and therefore the agitatorblade 122 leftwardly.

The plurality of adjustments that are provided, serve to facilitate theappropriate disposition of the agitator blade *122 so that the bottomedge 142 thereof lies in close proximity to the upper surface of theinclined ink well bottom wall E, and the pointed end 146 thereof lies inclose proximity to the periphery of the roller B. Thus the standard 112,riding in the recess 11!), may be raised or lowered and maintained inthe desired position of vertical adjustment by means of the elongatedslot 116 and the set screw 114. Furthermore the agitator bladesupporting bracket 120 may be rotated about the pivotal connection 126,and locked in the appropriate position of adjustment by tightening thenut 132. Finally, the blade 122 itself may be raised or loweredslightly, and maintained in position by tightening the bolt 138.

In operation, when the nut block 90, moving rightwardly, engages thetravel block 56, the reversing rod 52 will be moved rightwardly also,whereby to shift the cam block 57 from the FIGURE 6 to the FIGURE 16position thereof. Consequently, the roller R of the micro switch MSwould be depressed. As a result, the rotational direction of the screw.68 would be reversed, thus causing the block 90 to move leftwardlyuntil it engages the travel block 54, and thereby shifts the cam block58 to the FIGURE 6 position thereof, again reversing the rotationaldirection of the screw, as should now be evident. With respect to thereduced end segments 72 and 78 of the screw 68, these are provided toenable the nut block 91) to rest in a neutral position should either thetravel block 54 or the travel block 56 work its way loose on thereversing rod 52.

It is believed that the foregoing description and the drawings providean adequate disclosure for a complete understanding of the presentinvention, its mode of operation, and the advantages thereof. Although asingle ink fountain arrangement has been illustrated and described, itwill be understood that the present invention also contemplates multiplefountain arrangements wherein a plurality of appropriately spaced nutblocks and thereon supported agitator blades would be employed.

What is claimed is:

1. In an ink agitating mechanism in the form of an attachment for aprinting press, said press including an ink fountain and an inkingroller, the combination of: a pair of end brackets each including ahorizontal leg segment adapted to be mounted on one side frame of thepress and a depending leg segment; a pair of vertically spaced guiderails each having its ends secured to one of said depending legsegments; a helically generated screw extending transverselytherebetween and having its end portions journaled in said depending legsegments; a reversible motor unit including an output shaft having aflexible connection with one end thereof for rotating the screw; a microswitch having an actuating roller, and a magnetic switch for controllingthe directional rotation of the output shaft; a nut block provided witha tongue plate engageable in the groove of the helically generated screwreciprocable transversely of the mechanism; an agitator blade supportedfrom a bracket adjustably mounted on a standard secured to said nutblock, said blade having its lower edge disposed in proximity to theupper surface of the bottom wall of the fountain and its forward edge inproximity to the periphery of the inking roller; a reversing rodextending transversely of the mechanism and having its opposite endssupported in slide blocks secured to the depending leg segments anddisposed between the guide rails; a pair of travel blocks slidablydisposed between the guide rails secured to said rod in determinedspaced relationship with the nut block disposed between them; a camblock also secured to said rod and having a portion thereof slidablydisposed between the guide rails with a depending portion thereofoverlying and extending below the top surface of the lower of said guiderails into engagement with the roller of the micro switch.

2. In an ink agitating mechanism in the form of an attachment for aprinting press, said press including an ink fountain and an inkingroller, the combination of the structure defined in claim 1 wherein thebody of the nut block reciprocable transversely of the mechanism hasformed therein: a first transverse circular opening through which thescrew extends; a second similar opening through which the reversing rodextends; upper and lower channels slidably engaging the guide rails; adiagonal slot extending from the top to the bottom face of the body formounting said tongue plate, the angularity of said slot corresponding tothat of the helical groove in the screw; a vertical recess in the rearface thereof extending from the top to the bottom of the body, a portionof the vertical standard being disposed in said recess; and a threadedcircular opening for the reception of a set screw wherewith the standardis retained in said recess.

3. In an ink agitating mechanism in the form of an attachment for aprinting press, said press including an ink fountain and an inkingroller, the combination of the structure defined in claim 1 wherein theagitator blade has straight upper and lower edges, the upper edgemerging in sinuous fashion into the lower edge to form a pointed portionconstituting the forward end of the blade, and wherein the rear endportion of said blade has formed therein a notch that extends upwardlyfrom the lower edge of the blade and terminates in a semicircularportion.

4. In an ink agitating mechanism in the form of an attachment for aprinting press, said press including an ink fountain and an inkingroller, the combination of the structure defined in claim 1 wherein thebracket adjustably mounted on the standard includes a main body portionand a bifurcated section integral therewith; said main body portionhaving therein a recess for the reception of the rear end portion of theagitator blade, and a pair of aligned circular openings, one of saidopenings being tapped to receive the threaded extremity of a bolt havinga smooth shank portion extending across said recess and through a notchin the rear end portion of said blade; said bifurcated section having apivotal connection with the upper end of the standard, the pivotalconnection comprising a bolt extending through aligned circular openingsprovided therefor in the bifurcated section and in the upper end of thestandard, and having a nut applied to its projecting threaded extremity.

5. In an ink agitating mechanism in the form of an attachment for aprinting press, said press including an ink fountain and an inkingroller, the combination of the structure defined in claim 1, wherein thestandard secured to the nutblock has formed therein an elongatedvertical slot through which a set screw extends into engagement with athreaded opening provided therefor in the nut block, and wherein theupper end of the standard it reduced and provided with a circularopening for passage therethrough and through aligned circular openingsin a bifurcated section of said agitator blade supporting bracket of abolt having a nut applied to its projecting threaded extremity.

6. Electrically controlled ink agitating mechanism attachable to therear end portion of a printing press, said press including an inkfountain having an inclined bottom wall and an inking roller in contactwith the forward edge thereof, said mechanism comprising in combination:a pair of end brackets each including a horizontal leg segment securedto one side frame of the press and a depending leg segment; a pair ofvertically spaced transverse guide rails each having its opposite endssecured to one of the depending leg segments of the end brackets; atransversely extending screw having its end portions journaled in saiddepending leg segments, said screw be ing helically generated to providea continuous helical groove therein; a nut block through which saidscrew extends provided with a tongue plate engaging said groove wherebyrotation of the screw will eflFect transverse movements of said block; avertically adjustable standard secured to the nut block; a brackethaving a pivotal connection with the upper end of the standard; anagitator blade having its rear end portion secured in the last namedbracket with its lower edge disposed in proximity to the upper surfaceof the bot-tom wall of the ink fountain and its forward pointed portiondisposed in proximity to the periphery of the inking roller; a rodextending transversely between the guide rails and having its endportions slidably supported in blocks disposed between said guide railsand secured to said depending leg segments of the end brackets, said rodextending freely through a circular opening in the nut block; a pair oftravel blocks slidably disposed between the guide rails and secured tothe rod in determined horizontally spaced relationship to each otherwith the nut block aforesaid being located between them; a magneticreversing switch and a reversible motor unit supported on an upwardlyand laterally extending substantially rectangular platform segmentintegrally formed with the horizontal leg segment of one of the endbrackets; a flexible coupling connecting one end portion of the screwwith the output shaft of the motor unit; a micro switch provided with anactuating roller supported from the adjacent depending leg segment ofthe end bracket; and a cam block slidably disposed between the guiderails and secured to said transverse rod; said cam block including adepending semicircular segment in engagement with the roller of themicro switch, whereby when the nut block in its transverse movementsengages one of the travel blocks aforesaid, the slidably mounted rodwill shift the cam block to actuate the micro switch roller and effectreversal of the then rotational direction of the screw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,142,019 Buettner June 8, 1915 1,644,545 Robertson Oct. 4, 19271,937,473 Geary et al. Nov. 28, 1933 2,234,754 Gegenheimer Mar. 11, 19412,315,582 Blodgett Apr. 6, 1943 2,447,868 Ortleb Aug. 24, 1948

